Official Synopsis
Captured with IMAX 3D cameras, “Island of Lemurs: Madagascar” takes audiences on a spectacular journey to the remote and wondrous world of Madagascar, where lemurs arrived millions of years ago as castaways. They’ve since evolved into hundreds of diverse species, but are now highly endangered.
“Island of Lemurs: Madagascar” highlights the tireless efforts of trailblazing scientist Dr. Patricia C. Wright and her lifelong mission to help these strange and adorable creatures survive in the modern world. Joining David Douglas once again behind the scenes are editor Beth Spiegel, co-producer Diane Roberts, and composer Mark Mothersbaugh. Songs are by Hanitrarivo Rasoanaivo & Tarika.
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While this certainly isn’t a National Geographic documentary (or Discovery), the IMAX 3D Island of Lemurs: Madagascar is interesting. It’s a quick 41-minute IMAX 3D driven film about everything lemur related. The mere cuteness of the creature helps to make this worthwhile, especially if you have kids watching.
The movie starts with the history of the creatures, giving some insight to how lemurs moved from Africa to the island of Madagascar. It’s a short, interesting tale that is a bit unexpected. You are taught that lemurs floated from Africa after an asteroid decimated the dinosaurs into extinction. A group of lemurs survived and started their own lemur colony. What’s surprising is how the lemurs evolved from giant creatures into smaller versions of their African selves. It’s also neat to learn that lemurs are in a species category of their own (not a monkey, human or any other tree-swinging creature).
After learning its origins, the film shifts gears into different types of lemurs. The most rare, and nearly extinct of the bunch, is the Indri, which scientist Patricia Wright is in search of throughout the middle portion of the film. Dr. Wright is an interesting piece of the story, as an ex-social worker turned lemur scientist, Wright has made it her life quest to study and save lemurs — especially the Indri.
As the movie shifts from playful-cuteness of the lemur to a more serious tone about how humans are accidentally setting fire to rainforests, which generally kills lemurs, you get a sense of urgency. It’s a different tone of the film and certainly a more somber move from a delightful 41-minute piece of entertainment. By the end of the tale of woe, you certainly appreciate what Wright has done for these animals and what she continues to do to help the people of Madagascar become more aware/careful with the lemur population.
Again, this film isn’t exactly a NatGEO or Discovery channel quality documentary, but the use of IMAX scale helps to show how massively important the life of the lemur is to Dr. Wright and other folks. Even when the narrative fails it a bit. If a biology teacher was looking for a movie to show their class to learn about lemurs and the threat of humans to rainforests, this might be a great route to go. There is enough interesting information here to keep the attention of a younger audience, while preaching at them about the need for rainforest preservation. It’s a nice balance of cute and important.
Anyway, Island of Lemurs: Madagascar is a fun film that brings to light some facts that people might not have known about in regards to lemurs. My kids loved this, so I know kids would be hooked to this short IMAX piece.
(3D reviewed in passive)
When done right, 3D is gorgeous. When done right with IMAX 3D cameras, absolutely stunning. To be frank, the island of Madagascar is exquisite in 2D. A sprawling island that is teeming with lemur life and endless vegetation bodes well for an HD format. It’s truly something spectacular. It’s no surprise that 3D works enormously well with this landscape. The background to middle-ground to background separation is done well in this film. I’ve only had the pleasure of seeing IMAX 3D a few times in person and this captures everything you would expect it to from an IMAX 3D experience. It’s something to behold.
On top of this, Warner Home Video puts out another great looking product on the Blu-ray HD side of things. The colors of the animals, surroundings and every single breathtaking aerial shot is right on par with a typical high-quality WB Blu-ray release. The blues, yellows and greens stand out so well. Visually, this film is one of the more intricately beautiful to come to Blu-ray HD. It’s a treat for the eyes with no compression, color banding, graininess or artifacts to be had.
On the audio side, you get this coming to you in DTS-HD 5.1, which is a bit disappointing considering 7.1 would have worked better here. Come on! This is an IMAX film. It deserves the entire spectrum of sensory engulfment. The aspect ratio is 1.78:1.
In terms of special features, here’s what you’re getting:
– Making The Island of Lemurs
– Behind the Scenes
– The Story of Lemurs
– Meet Patricia Wright
– A Baby Indri
– Five Things About Indri
– The Cutest Lemur
– Go-Kart Racers
There is a lot of extras for a release of this nature (no pun intended). You get to learn significant amount about the lemurs, their habits and their history. If I was a teacher in middle school or in elementary, this is pure gold. A great set of features for a film that was more pretty than substance.
